J. C. Squire, ed. A Book of Women’s Verse. 1921.
By Christina Rossetti (18301894)Good Friday
A
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy Cross,
To number drop by drop Thy Blood’s slow loss,
And yet not weep?
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;
Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horror of great darkness at broad noon—
I, only I.
But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.